This is the first of an occasional theme I will be blogging about. Forgotten songs of the 80s and 90s. Just a Cartoon hit the airwaves in 1988. The song and video were written and produced by the Academy Award Winning animator John Minnis. The vocals and music are courtesy of the legendary Canadian comedic duo Bowser and Blue. What is the song about? The same thing most other songs are about. Love and relationships. This one has a twist, hence the title.
I was going to call this post 'Things I don't say anymore', but, 'I've got a boner' has a better ring to it. As for the reason I don't say it any more, it is not because I don't have one. I mean to say it's not that I have one at the moment. I probably just don't talk about it as much. But just like boners, expressions come and go. The terms we use also change, many are influenced by pop culture and the latest TV shows. The 50s term 'cool' was replaced in the seventies by 'keen'. Along came Happy Days and back came 'cool'. It's never really gone away since. The 80s brought 'gnarly', and some of the 'douches' I worked with in the late 80s and went to college with in the 90s used the word 'dandy' for the same thing. The term 'douche' only became more popular in the last couple years. I find it the perfect expression for the fool that tries too hard to be 'cool'. When did 'rad' come along?
I scoured my brain and then asked some friends for some suggestions
-Airhead replaced the less popular space cadet
-Barf Me Out - Were you a Valley Girl? Never a term I used. Perhaps the poor cousin of "Gross".
-Big Time - I used this for a while, big time.
-Bite me - Later became 'Eat me'. Eat me was the better term because not only could it be a response to an offending question, not only an insult, but also a slightly humorous, slightly flirtatious comment to be made at inappropriate times. Trust me, I have made plenty of inappropriate comments at inappropriate times.
-Bubba - replaceable with "man", as in "Hey man" or "Hey bubba". This came out of the late 90s TV series Nash Bridges. I used it from time to time and the expression caught on just as much as the TV show. That's to say, not a whole lot. A colleague of mine had a man crush on me and overheard me using it. Ten years later he still calls me bubba. -Sup - As in 'What is Up?', or 'How are you?'
-As if! - Popularized by Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. -Don't go there! - One of the most overused expressions. So, please, don't go there. -Dude - Another 80s term that resurfaced. Use it as a noun or as an exclamation. 'Hey dude'. Or, 'Dude!'. -TMI - Too much information. -What a Fag - I swear, I haven't called anyone a fag since I was in grade three. -Doy - A bastardization of 'Duh'. The sarcastic 'No Shit'. - Keep it wet - No clue how this started, or what the hell it means. -Woof - See previous There are more out there, great expressions and insults to really pwn someone. Damn! I can't think of any more.
My steak of last week got caught up in the events that were Valentine's Day and did not get the proper attention it deserved. Since then, I have had a craving for more steak. So, when I went out to pick up groceries today, I had added steak as part of the shopping list in my head.
At the supermarket my mouth started watering as I passed the butcher section. Sitting there on the cooler shelf was a juicy slab of meat calling out to me. Well, it didn't exactly moo but I saw it and I wanted it. A good size Striploin Steak (New York strip) of about 8.5 ounces.
It takes a few days off for me to truly relax, catch up on my errands and chores and appreciate a well prepared meal. More often than not I am rushing and make the quickest possible meal. Other times I am too tired to prepare much and I make the quickest, easiest and simplest plate of grub. With a guest or three, I will prepare more or create a menu. Just for me? I eat out of the box.
Today was the day to prepare a proper meal, just for myself.
The Meal
A man cannot live on meat alone so aside from a grilled steak I added a side of rice, and salad. I was in the mood for a pint of Guinness earlier in the day but decided that steak and rice were the makings of a heavy meal and a pint of Kilkenny would better complement the banquet.
Cascading Kilkenny
If you are not familiar with Kilkenny it is is an Irish cream ale produced by Smithwick's Brewery / Irish Ale Breweries Ltd. It is similar to Smithwick's with a milder hops finish. Kilkenny shares a creamy head similar to its Stout cousin Guinness. Once poured it features a beautiful reverse cascade of bubbles. The perfect compliment to a meal.
The steak and rice were great, and the beer hit the spot. Now I am full. Instead of cleaning up, I am typing this. And I just remembered the third reason I don't cook often. The cleanup.
It started with the graphic novels, then on to the TV series. The folks over at AMC have created a pretty cool interactive website, included are some themed Walking Dead games. Under AMC Originals click the link to the The Walking Dead page. On it you have the option of The Survival Test, Trivia Tests Comic Book quizzes or The Atlanta Run. Atlanta Run is well crafted but simple RPG. I originally embedded the game into this post but my browser kept crashing. So here is the direct link to the game. Look for season two of The Walking Dead to start sometime in October 2011 on AMC. As of today no official announcement has been made.
Yes, it is true. There are millions of people who like Nickelback. And then there are those who like quality music. It's good to know that I am not the only one that can't stand them. The worst band in the world. Another failbook funny.
Scheduled for release later this month is a set of early recordings from late legendary AC DC lead singer Bon Scott. The disc, called Round And Round – The Forgotten Tales, will feature eleven tracks Scott recorded before joining ACDC.
The album starts with the folksy and classically tinged song Carey Gully, the upbeat title track Round and Round and a cover of the 60s pop ballad To Know You Is To Love You.
Look for some psycheldic sounds in such songs as I Can't Dance With You and Love Makes Sweet Music, Followed by the bluesy Sooky Sooky. The release is named after the three-track “Round and Round” mini that Scott recorded with Peter Cross of the Mount Lofty Rangers in 1973.
JPC.de has some samples, as does Amazon from the '73 mini LP.
A friend sent me this video via my Facebookprofile. As a former boxer and a huge fan of the sport I could never stand the showboating athlete. Whether it is in the ring, the arena or on the gridiron, my philosophy has been, go in, do what you have to do and get out. Sports are about efficiency and economy of movement. When an announcer describes an athlete as 'catlike', it is not because they scratch, it is because the cat, graceful, uses the least amount of energy to fulfill its goal.
To set up the video, Usman Ahmed is a boxer fighting out of Dernyshire, United Kingdom. He stands at 5'6" and fights in the 110 to 112 pound range, so therefore a Flyweight. The 29 year old right hander Ahmed has a record of 6-4-1, with one loss coming by KO. He also likes to dance. He doesn't dance well. His defence is also a little weak.
Ahmed's opponent in the video is the 5'5 1/2" Ashley Sexton, a 9-0 boxer, with 5 KO victories. At 23 years and 9 fights, it is hard to predict his future in the ring as he has been mostly a regional fighter with his bouts taking place in the Essex and London regions.
Since the above video was edited for impact and humour, I also have the full length fight as it played out in real time, minus most of the dancing.
If I mentioned that Ahmed is ranked 222nd worldwide, would you be surprised? Are you surprised that there are some 300 boxers ranked below him? Perhaps dancing does count for something.
Guitarist, singer, rocker and bluesman Gary Moore died suddenly today in Spain. He was 59 years old. Originally from Belfast, Moore, was best known as a solo guitarist and singer. His ability to switch from a Peter Green styled intensity to a slashing Stevie Ray Vaughan lick came across effortlessly in his music.
Moore played with Thin Lizzy in the early 70s and performed with some of the greatest Blues acts of the last thirty years. He released twenty solo albums and toured off and on with Thin Lizzy starting in the 1970s, and later in 2006.
In 2001 Moore released Back to the Blues. The disc featured a cover of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday", and the Yardbirds' gem "I Ain't Got You". A couple Moore originals, the atmspheric "Pictures Of The Moon" and the instrumental song "The Prophet".
From Back to the Blues, this is "Looking Back".
Results of the Canadian Police Survey on Youth Crime suggests that youth gangs are a growing concern in many parts of Canada. Gun violence in major cities has additionally been a concern, especially in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal. In 2005, the number of gang-related homicides rose to 16% of all homicides. In the United States, after nearly five years of decline from 1999 to 2004, gang problems seem to be on the rise. We must do whatever we can to end these occurrences of violence, such as shown in the video below.
According to the New York Daily News the most popular food on Super Bowl Sunday is of all things, vegetables. My football Sunday has always been about pizza and beer or subs and beer. This Sunday's Green Bay Packers versus Pittsburgh Steelers game is odds on to be the favourite weekend pastime. The game pits Aaron Rodgers against Big Ben Roethlisberger. But wait a second. I'm talking about food here. Maybe it's the Roethlisburger. The folks over at We Work for Cheese, always on the hunt for the perfect cheese burger came up with this gem just in time for Super Bowl Weekend. What are the Vegas odds for this weekend anyway?
But just like boners, expressions come and go. The terms we use also change, many are influenced by pop culture and the latest TV shows. The 50s term 'cool' was replaced in the seventies by 'keen'. Along came Happy Days and back came 'cool'. It's never really gone away since. The 80s brought 'gnarly', and some of the 'douches' I worked with in the late 80s and went to college with in the 90s used the word 'dandy' for the same thing. The term 'douche' only became more popular in the last couple years. I find it the perfect expression for the fool that tries too hard to be 'cool'. When did 'rad' come along?
-Sup - As in 'What is Up?', or 'How are you?'
It started with the graphic novels, then on to the TV series. The folks over at AMC have created a pretty cool interactive website, included are some themed Walking Dead games. Under AMC Originals click the link to the The Walking Dead page. On it you have the option of The Survival Test, Trivia Tests Comic Book quizzes or The Atlanta Run. Atlanta Run is well crafted but simple RPG. I originally embedded the game into this post but my browser kept crashing. So here is the direct link to the game. Look for season two of The Walking Dead to start sometime in October 2011 on AMC. As of today no official announcement has been made.
Checklist For A Successful Valentine's Day
